Ok the headline might not be entirely true, after all they are buying your product, but it’s an important idea to keep in mind. Your customer knows what they want and are willing to go somewhere else if you don’t give what they want, how they want it.

This morning a friend of mine was complaining about a professor he has in his marketing class.

The professor had taken the time out of his class to offer a survey on what he was doing well and how the class could be made better. Apparently, a majority of the students hated the fact that the professor read his slides.

Well, once the surveys were evaluated and after the professor looked over them. He simply said, “I know you don’t like the slides, but I’m going to do them anyway.” I was amazed that a professor would do that, no less a marketing professor. He had taken the feedback, and disregarded it.

You’d be surprised at how often this happens; I know I catch myself doing it from time to time. If you think only professors and small businesses do this, you’d be surprised at how often large corporations fall into this trap. When bureaucracy and egos are pitted against consumers and surveys generally the customer loses.

Tracking, taking surveys, and building a brand do little if change isn’t implemented. The customer always comes first, and they are always right. Bad feedback gives you a chance to make positive changes.

With the Internet at our disposal and consumers pushing to be a part of the marketing of products, businesses have the chance to bring customers into the brainstorming aspect of product creation. Marketing departments need to take advantage of the talent and ideas found within their customers.

An example of a company that did just that is Mountain Dew with the creation of their DEWmocracy campaign. The company not only used their consumers to create their next drink but to also market the site and the product.

Is your company using the web intelligently? Are you inviting consumers to be part of the system or are you ignoring their wants? Do surveys mean something and is change forthcoming? New age consumers require business to be attentive to their needs, the ability to evolve quickly can be the key to success.